


How Did We End Up Like This?

by Husbamf



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Ending, Bad Puns, Break Up, F/F, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Real Life, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-12 19:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18016580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Husbamf/pseuds/Husbamf
Summary: After seven years of being together, Blake and Yang have fallen apart. It begins with an ending, and everything after just tells the tale of their former relationship. It would be great if they got back together, but they more than likely won't.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you'll be kind, as this was written shortly after my ex-fiancee left me, and that's what it's based on. As a result, some things may be OOC/AU-ish. Think of it like I took my situation and tried to make it fit the RWBY Universe as much as possible. It hasn't been beta'd, so apologies in advance for errors.

“Yang.” Ghira and Kali Belladonna were in the middle of packing a cart, an oversized cart filled with Blake’s things. They look caught off guard for just a second before they regain their cheery disposition. “How- how are you doing?”

Yang pauses for a while, thinking about how honestly she should answer. She’d always tried not to swear in front of Blake’s parents. “Pretty fucking horrible.”

Unlike her usual self, Yang keeps her head low and avoids all gazes as she meanders into her old apartment. Once inside she's greeted by the sight of Blake, who's pacing while looking upset.

“Yang, I thought-“ Blake looks even more anxious now, desperate even. Her Faunus ears are flat against her head from distress. “I thought you were going to work on Bumblebee until after dinner.”

“I finished early.” The air feels heavy, like the time when Yang was still getting used to the new stove and kept almost burning everything. They had to take out the smoke detector because it started driving them crazy. “Do you want help?”

Blake freezes. “That’s- you don’t have to do that. I know this is hurting you enough as is.”

Yang ties her blonde mane into a messy ponytail and starts helping anyways. “So you’re really leaving, huh? This is what you want?”

“Don’t ask me that.” Blake snaps back. Yang frowns as she picks up the cracks in Blake's voice. Nobody else was ever really good at noticing those cracks. Blake’s always been good at steeling herself and keeping secrets. Beautiful, yet terrifying, yellow eyes narrow into a squint. “You know it’s not that simple. And you’re the one who asked me to leave.”

“I didn’t ask you to leave, asked you to choose.” Yang says firmly. It’s angry at first, but then quickly turns into sadness. “You’re choosing to run away instead of fighting for us.”

Despite her attempts to numb all emotion, Blake’s eyes glisten with despair. She starts to say something, Yang guesses it would probably be to defend herself, but a voice rings out from outside the apartment.

“Blake?” A familiar voice. Ilia’s voice. “Do you need help with anything?”

That’s the final straw, and Yang loses her calm composure. “Ilia? You asked Ilia to come and help you?”

“I told you that she was coming to help me a few days ago.” Blake says a little too fast, and a little too aggressively. She says it like she doesn’t want to be blamed for another problem.

“No, you didn’t.” Yang’s voice is low and rough, and Blake knows that means she's trying not to cry. “There’s no way you told me or I would have asked Ruby, or Weiss, or someone- anyone to keep me company.”

Neither of them can tell who’s telling the truth, so they quietly let it go. Blake can’t remember if she really told Yang, or if she just thought she did and got swept away by how hectic the last few days have been. In the last year or so Blake’s been thinking things but forgetting to say them out loud, and she knows it caused a lot of fights. On the other hand, Yang honestly didn’t know that Ilia would be there, but she can’t tell if it’s because she’s been so numb, or because Blake really didn’t tell her. She just knows that she definitely would have asked for company if she knew that Blake was bringing a support friend.

A moment passes before Blake breaks the silence again. “I asked them not to come inside, because I knew you’d want space.”

“Thank you.” Yang mutters through tears. “I appreciate it, for real.”

Yang wanders to the far wall of their apartment, the entire wall is covered with bookshelves. Over the years they’d accumulated quite the book collection, some very expensive first editions with autographs, and all of them with important memories. Yang's never been much of a reader, but she had liked spending time with Blake while she waited in line for a midnight book release. She liked how Blake’s ears would twitch in anticipation, and how her face would light up while she was telling Yang the plot.

“You should take this.” Yang says quietly as she holds out a book.

Blake’s eyes widen in shock before she frowns. “You said you wanted that.”

“It’s your favourite book. You literally cried when I said I wanted to keep it.” She wants to sound annoyed, but Yang’s tone comes out like a sloppy mess of sad and bitter.

“You said I don’t deserve to keep it because you’re the one who got the speeding ticket getting us there, you ended up buying the book for me, and you made the custom cover for it and everything. What changed your mind?” Blake asks in disbelief.

Because I love you. The fact that that’s her first thought even during this stupid mess pisses her off, so she stands up and gets in Blake’s face. Yang's heart screams 'I'm sorry I said all that shit because I'm so fucked up over you leaving', but she doesn't say any of that. She knows Blake doesn't want to hear it. Her eyes flare red instead, because anger and pain go hand in hand. “I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to answer that. I’m pretty sure you know what the answer is.”

Blake just stares at her numbly in response, and Yang really can’t tell if her point got across. That’s how far they’ve fallen, she thinks to herself, that they don’t know how to read each other’s thoughts anymore. They used to be able to- their bond, their love, it used to be unbreakable, but not anymore.

The rest of the packing is done in a rushed silence. Blake had almost a whole month to pack, but she chose to do it the day of. With every day that Blake had procrastinated, Yang hoped that Blake would change her mind and decide to stay. Even as her things were going out the door, Yang’s heart cried for Blake to turn back and say she made a mistake. It didn’t happen.

Blake asks everyone else to wait outside while she returns her set of keys. It was only when she took the keys off her lanyard that the weight of everything started to kick in.

“Here.” She says, holding out the keys to Yang. Blake’s throat feels tight and dry. She looks around the apartment and calls it 'home' before realizing that it isn't going to be anymore. “Do you want me to stay the night, so you’re not alone?”

The apartment’s temperature instantly rises by a few degrees as Yang fumes with rage. “What difference would that make?”

“I thought I could say bye properly. You know, one last night together.” Tears freely cascade down Blake’s beautiful face.

“Get out.” Yang’s voice is barely a whisper. If Blake wasn’t a Faunus she might not have heard it. “If you’re not staying forever, then get out.”

It makes Blake weep. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Yang. I didn’t want any of this to happen-"

“ _GET OUT_.” The heat from Yang’s anger threatened to burn the rest of their book collection, if not the entire apartment, into ashes. She wasn’t trying to threaten anyone, and she was trying to keep her emotions in check, but this would probably be the hardest thing she’d ever have to go through. She’d survived too many bar fights to count, Grimm battles galore, and her own mother abandoning her, but this was a new level of agony. Yang put everything she had, all the trust and faith she could fathom, into her love for Blake.

“I didn’t want this.” Blake cries, her heart breaking more with every second that goes by.

Yang sobs frantically. “You can- you can still stay. It’s not too late.”

“What would I tell them? How could I stay after what I’ve done to you, what you’ve done to me?” Blake says wistfully.

“Who cares what they think!” Yang puts her hands on Blake’s sides, hope soaring to her heart. She focuses on the fact that Blake didn’t just say no, she didn’t just reject her. “It doesn’t matter if we’re together, we can take anything on if we’re together.”

Both of their hearts shatter as they hug each other, because they know that Yang’s holding on for dear life, but Blake’s saying goodbye. “I can’t do this to you, to us, anymore.”

Blake makes her way to the door. She almost reflexively asks if Yang can lock it for her before she remembers that she doesn’t have keys anymore, so Yang’s actually forced to this time. The last time.

“Wait.” Blake stops abruptly. Yang’s voice is dripping with pain. “I want the ring back.”

As a reflex, Blake fiddles with the shining engagement ring on her finger. It’s absolutely stunning, custom made and designed by Yang. It took a whole year of saving and secrecy, and Blake knows how much Yang hates keeping secrets from her. Blake never really wore it until today, but now she wishes she’d worn it every day. She takes it off and stares at it like it’ll come to life and change everything. She closes her grip on the ring when she sees Yang step towards her. “Please, can I just have a minute with it?”

“You’ve had years with it!” Yang screams and takes the ring from her more forcefully than she means to. She’s already sorry that she grabbed it, that she couldn’t wait the minute that Blake needed. “You had years to wear it, and you didn’t until now.” It starts to melt in her hands, so Yang throws it across the room, and that makes Blake sob harder.

They hug one more time before Blake makes it to the door. Yang starts to beg her to stay, pride be damned. First comes the hopeful things, that Yang loves her and that they’re partners, they’ve been partners for almost a decade now. They can fix it, they can do anything if they're together. Next up is the sadder stuff, like who else will brush Yang’s hair, because she doesn’t trust anybody else with it. Who will pet Blake the same way, kiss her the same way, love with such intensity, as they do for each other? No one.

Yang doubts anyone can love Blake more than she does, not because no one would love her- that’s ridiculous. Blake is gorgeous and smart and extraordinary. No, nobody can love Blake more than Yang does because that’s just how much Yang loves her; every ounce of Yang’s being is in love with Blake, even in this horrible situation. She’s so confident about it that she says so, and that makes Blake squeeze her eyes shut in an attempt to stop her tears.

Last comes the insults. Yang screams and cries, and asks Blake how she could say that she loves her when she put her through all of this. Blake just sobs in response. Yang wonders out loud if maybe Blake never really loved her. She probably just pitied her, probably just settled. Yang questions if she ever wanted to be engaged at all, maybe Blake just didn’t know how to say no, didn’t know how to leave, or didn’t take her seriously at all. This isn’t how you show someone you love them. This is why we're breaking up, they both think to themselves.

Then Blake leaves. There’s no goodbye kiss, no romantic gesture, no hope for Yang to grasp onto.

The Belladonnas start driving away, with Ghira and Kali making small talk to try and distract Blake. Ilia’s travelling in her own car, but she assures Blake that she’ll meet them at the house. They’re excited to have her move back home, but Blake can’t smile right now. She isn’t crying anymore, but she does feel like she’s going to throw up. They play music relatively loud to drown out any sounds, but Blake can still hear. She tells herself she's young and her hearing is sharper than her parents’, so that's why she can still what’s going on in the apartment even though they can’t.

Yang takes Ember Celica off so she can feel every minute of breaking a bookshelf with her bare hands. Her hands are already starting to bruise, but she continues punching what’s left of the bookshelf even as splinters begin to embed into her knuckles.

Blake winces, because she knows exactly which bookshelf broke. Even now, she knows that Yang’s being considerate because she picked Blake’s least favourite shelf to break. She knows that Yang chose her least favourite bookshelf because she’s hoping that Blake’ll be back. She knows that Yang wants to make a bad joke about it being flimsy to begin with, or that it's an excuse for Blake to replace it with one she actually likes. She tries not to cry when she hears at least one of Yang’s fingers break. They get far enough that Blake stops being able to hear Yang’s sobs and the squelching sound of bloody knuckles hitting wood.

Yang can’t feel her hands anymore, and they’ve doubled in size. She’s pretty sure she broke a finger or several, but she won’t go to the hospital because she doesn’t care. She looks around the apartment and sees all the gaps that Blake’s left in her life. Blake’s clothes, her dresser, her makeup, her favourite mugs, half of the books, her super comfortable bean bag, the artwork she liked so much but Yang thought was kind of weird, it’s all gone. Her ribbon’s gone. Gambol Shroud is gone. Yang looks over at the King sized bed they used to share, Blake’s pillows are gone too. Only her own side of the bed has pillows, it’s half empty. There’s no ticking sound, she must have taken the clock as well.

Somewhat desperately, Yang looks for the ring. She doesn’t know why, but she feels like she needs to find it. She checks where she threw it and its surroundings, but it’s not there. There’s no way Blake took it, so Yang wonders if she might have melted it by accident. She flinches at the possibility.

She doesn’t manage to find it, but when Yang finally stops searching for the ring, she realizes how quiet and empty the apartment is. There isn’t the usual sound of pages turning as Blake reads, no soft purring because she's comfortable, there’s no sighing because Yang’s being too loud. She falls to her knees, puts her head in her hands, and lets out a guttural roar that exudes excruciating anguish.

Miles away Blake starts to cry again. She cries even harder when she realizes that even though she’s a Faunus she shouldn’t have been able to hear Yang’s yell from this distance, that nobody else heard it, and she only did because even through all of this they’re still partners with a bond.

Blake eventually makes it to her old bedroom, but the bed feels small and she misses the warmth of Yang next to her. She misses being Yang's little spoon, particularly the way Yang used to wrap her arms around her and hold her hand to sleep at night. It was secure and safe, and Blake's vision blurs when she remembers that she doesn't have that anymore, and that she can't have that ever again. She holds her own hand and tries to sleep, but it's not the same.

Yang's still collapsed on the floor hours later. She sees no reason to get up. Time feels like it's slowed down so that every minute feels like a year instead. She doesn't know what she's doing today, or tomorrow, or any other day. She feels like she doesn't know anything at all. Her vision hasn't stopped being blurry for who knows how long, but her eyes hurt and she can see through the curtains that the sun is starting to rise.

They both wonder to themselves:  
How did we end up like this?


	2. Weisso Punny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't like bad puns/jokes/pick up lines then this chapter will anger you. It's pretty short and mostly filler/context, I guess.  
> Who doesn't have a beta? It's me. Who's apologizing for all errors again? Also me.

It was one of those days where Yang felt extra lost; after taking a year off school to take care of Ruby, she felt like she didn’t really fit in with her old team anymore. Sure, she was still upbeat and cheerful, but there were a lot of ways where she felt like an outsider with her friends. She especially felt out of place while she waited to be reassigned to a new team. Yang found herself wandering around more often than not, just going with the flow to see where her feet would take her. She knew it was dumb, but she hoped that she'd find whatever she was looking for that way.

After taking in the local Christmas scenery and sighing because it didn’t really help, Yang checked on her missed messages before heading home.

 **RAV(E)ing mad** 13:32  
_still waiting to party ;)_  
**caw caw motherfuckers** 13:46  
_so did you pick a waifu yet_  
**woof** 13:51  
_Free on Friday?_  
**triple threat** 13:52  
_< /3_  
**Pyrrhawt** 14:03  
_Hi, is this Yang? We met at-_  
(press to open message)

She swiped most of the messages away, but chose to open  **caw caw motherfuckers**.

 **Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 14:10  
_no_  
**caw caw motherfuckers** 14:11  
_why not_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 14:12  
_it’s complicated_  
**caw caw motherfuckers** 14:12  
_i can pick for you_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 14:13  
_what_  
_pls no_  
**caw caw motherfuckers** 14:15  
_then pick the one that’s best in bed_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 14:15  
_wow bye_

Yang smiled and rolled her eyes because he wasn’t being serious. Qrow knew she was feeling isolated, and he was just trying to make sure she wasn’t lonely. His experience with bad luck had brought them together as she went through more unfortunate times, and over the years he quietly acknowledged that his niece was more interested in women than he’d originally thought. It was nice to know that she could count on him in that way, at least.

_Buzz._

**XXX-2312** 14:15  
_Velvet’s a real COCOnut._

“Pffft.” She laughed despite not recognizing the number.

 **Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 14:17  
_I bet you didn’t think I’d schnee you coming_  
**XXX-2312** 14:17  
_?_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 14:18  
_Weiss, I know that’s you_  
**XXX-2312** 14:19  
_It’s not._  
_Weisso serious._  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 14:20  
_Ruby?_  
_enough playang around_  
**XXX-2312** 14:22  
_Not Ruby._  
_Why, am I making you yangxious?_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 14:23  
_OMG who is this??_  
**XXX-2312** 14:23  
_My apologies, I’m not trying to make you yangry._

 **Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 14:28  
_ok, whose phone did you steal_  
**Ice Ice Baby** 14:30  
_I’m not sure what you’re talking about._  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 14:32  
_you suck at lying_

 **XXX-2312** 14:32  
_No Schneed to ask her._  
_I’ve already told you I’m not Weiss._  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 14:33  
_then how’d you know I asked her?  
__ok there Weiss Queen_

Meanwhile, Weiss groaned because she messed up. “Here’s your scroll back. Thank you for letting me borrow it.”

They didn’t have the most in common, but Blake and Weiss had met in Vacuo while they were both running away from their problems. After bonding over their issues for most of the summer break, Weiss convinced Blake that she should transfer to Beacon, and she silenced the Faunus’ concerns by saying she’d handle it.

“Sure, no problem.” Blake replied monotonously from behind her book. “Who were you texting, anyways?”

“Yang, Ruby’s sister.” Weiss finished eating her salad and started getting ready to leave. “Speaking of which, I have to meet Ruby in 10 minutes, are you alright if I leave now?”

Blake put her book away and pulled a map out of her bag. “Yeah, I think I’ll manage. Go get your girl.”

“She’s not- we’re not-“ Weiss face turned pink. “I’m not sure what gave you that idea, she’s a complete dolt.”

“You talk about her a lot.” Blake said, smirking at Weiss. “You also look funny when you talk about her, and even your ears are red.”

Weiss gasped and covered her ears with her hands. “They are not! I have to go before that dolt gets kidnapped by someone offering her cookies!”

“Okay, bye.” Weiss had sped off before Blake could finish her sentence, but she chuckled anyways. She was surprised that Ruby couldn’t just read Weiss like a book, since Weiss’s tsundere behaviour was practically ripped from a manga. She wondered if maybe Ruby really was a complete dolt after all.

Blake made it back to her dorm room with relative ease and decided to check out the text conversation that Weiss was using her scroll for. She rolled her eyes at the lameness of the puns and decided to have some fun by responding in her own way.

 **XXX-2312** 15:49  
_how many letters are in the alphabet, 21?_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 15:55  
_26_  
**XXX-2312** 15:57  
_my bad, I forgot u r a qt_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 16:00  
_do you use an inhaler_  
_cause you got dat ass ma_  
**XXX-2312** 16:02  
_are you a cop_  
_because you got me under cardiac arrest_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 16:04  
_did you buy tickets yet_  
**XXX-2312** 16:04  
_to your guns show?_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 16:05  
_DAMN IT_  
**XXX-2312** 16:06  
_haha do you like algebra_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 16:07  
_what_  
**XXX-2312** 16:08  
_wanna replace my x without asking y?_

Blake had Yang in stitches, she was practically doubled over from how hard she was laughing.

 **Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 16:10  
_maybe if you’re lucky_  
_I should probably know your name first_  
**XXX-2312** 16:10  
_it’s Blake_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 16:11  
_but that was Weiss or Ruby earlier, right..?_  
**wakey wakey eggs and Blakey** 16:12  
_before the alphabet thing, yeah_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 16:13  
_you’ve got some killer lines :)_  
**wakey wakey eggs and Blakey** 16:13  
_haha thanks  
__you’re not so bad yourself_

They continued joking around for hours, which eventually turned into days, and soon enough Blake and Yang grew to know each other better. Blake started referencing Ninjas of Love in her pick up lines, especially when they both started to get bolder, and Yang wasn’t a self-proclaimed Pun Master for no reason. Slowly but surely, they started being a part of each other’s lives without noticing it.

In fact, Yang got so into it that she forgot about a previous engagement she’d made, or at least until she got a certain text message.

 **FALLing for me**  23:51  
_Still interested in tomorrow?_

Right. She’d forgotten about plans with Cinder; the type of plans you make when you’re drunk and you miss a warm body next to you. It was a purely physical relationship, one that Cinder seemed to be more into than Yang was. Normally she didn’t mind, especially since it was nice to have the company, but there was something about things this time that made Yang feel like she should decline, although she couldn’t quite put her finger on why.

 **Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 00:08  
_sorry, might be busy_  
**FALLing for me**  00:09  
_What’s wrong?_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 00:10  
_i don’t know yet_  
**FALLing for me**  00:14  
_Fine.  
__You’ll tell me when you’re free later._

Yang squinted and decided not to respond; there was something about how cocky Cinder’d been getting that was starting to rub her the wrong way. Instead, Yang opened a more familiar conversation.

 **Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 00:18  
_I keep telling Ruby she shouldn’t eat cookies in bed_  
_she’ll have a crummy sleep_  
**wakey wakey eggs and Blakey** 00:28  
_why are you awake?_  
_this is the sleep police_  
_are you resisting a rest_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 00:28  
_you gonna put me in cuffs if I am? ;)_  
**wakey wakey eggs and Blakey** 00:30  
_YANG_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 00:31  
_just have a lot on my mind_  
**wakey wakey eggs and Blakey** 00:32  
_want to talk about it?_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 00:33  
_aren’t you falling asleep?_  
**wakey wakey eggs and Blakey** 00:33  
_yes_  
_tomorrow?_  
**Yang Xiao ‘love you Long time’** 00:34  
_sure_  
_goodnight  
__sweet dreams, preferably with me in them ;)_

When there wasn’t a response Yang just assumed that Blake fell asleep, so she went back to staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out what was going on in her head. She was just about to try closing her eyes when her phone went off again.

 **Ice Ice Baby** 00:47  
_Blake’s coming over tomorrow, you should too._  
_Something tells me she wouldn't mind.  
__2pm, don’t be a dolt._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you enjoyed that.  
> Next: They meet! And maybe we get some WhiteRose development.


End file.
